Heav'n claims me all in vain, while he has Part,
Still rebel Nature holds out half my Heart;
Nor Pray'rs nor Fafts its stubborn Pulse restrain,
Nor Tears, for Ages, taught to flow in vain.
Soon as thy Letters trembling I unclose,
That well-known Name awakens all my Woes.
Oh Name for ever fad ! for ever dear!
Still breath'd in Sighs, still usher'd with a Tear.
I tremble too where'er my own I find,
Some dire Misfortune follows close behind.
Line after Line my gushing Eyes o'erflow,
Led thro' a fad Variety of Woe:
NewwarminLove, now with'ring in my Bloom,
Loft in a Convent's folitary Gloom!
There ftern Religion quench'd th' unwilling
Flame,
There dy'd the best of Paffions, Love and Fame.
Yet write, oh write me all, that I may join
Griefs to thy Griefs, and echo Sighs to thine.
Nor Foes nor Fortune take this Pow'r away;
And is my Abelard less kind than they?
Tears ftill are mine, and those I need not spare,
Love but demands what else were shed inPray'r;
No happier Task these faded Eyes purfue;
To read and weep is all they now can do.
Then share thy Pain, allow that fad Relief; Ah, more than fhare it! give me all thy Grief. Heav'n firft taught Letters for fome Wretch's Aid,
Some banish'd Lover, or fome Captive Maid; They
They live, they speak, they breathe what Love
infpires,
Warm from the Soul, and faithful to its Fires,
The Virgin's Wish without her Fears impart,
Excufe the Blush, and pour out all the Heart,
Speed the foft Intercourse from Soul to Soul,
And waft a Sigh from Indus to the Pole.
Thou know'ft how guiltless first I met thy
Flame,
When Love approach'd me under Friendship's
Name;
My Fancy form'd thee of angelic Kind,
Some Emanation of th' all-beauteous Mind.
Those smiling Eyes attempting ev'ry Ray,
Shone sweetly lambent with celeftial Day.
Guiltless Igaz'd; Heav'n liften'd while you fung;
And Truths* divine came mended from that
FromLips like those whatPrecept fail'd to move?
Too foon they taught me 'twas no Sin to Love:
Back thro' the Paths of pleasing Sense I ran,
Nor wifh'd an Angel whom I lov'd a Man.
Dim and remote the Joys of Saints I fee;
Nor envy them that Heav'n I lofe for thee.
How oft', when prest to marriage, have I faid,
Curfe on all Laws but those which Love has
made?
* He was her Preceptor in Philofophy and Divinity.
Love, free as Air, at Sight of human Ties,
Spreads his light Wings, and in a Moment flies.
LetWealth, letHonour, wait the wedded Dame,
Auguft her Deed, and facred be her Fame;
Before true Paffion all those Views remove,
Fame, Wealth, and Honour! what are you
to Love?
The jealous God, when we profane his Fires,
Those restless Passions in Revenge inspires,
And bids them make mistaken Mortals groan,
Who feek in Love for aught but Love alone.
Should at my Feet the World's great Mafter fall,
Himself, his Throne,his World, I'd fcorn 'em all:
Not Cæfar's Empress wou'd I deign to prove;
No, make me Mistress to the Man I love;
If there be yet another Name more free,
More fond than Miftrefs, make me that to thee!
Oh! happy State! when Souls each other draw,
When Love is Liberty, and Nature, Law:
All then is full, poffeffing, and poffefs'd,
No craving void left aking in the Breast:
Ev'n Thought meets Thought, e'er from the
Lips it part,
And each warm Wish springs mutual from the
Heart.
This fure is Blifs (if Blifs on Earth there be) And once the Lot of Abelard and me.
Alas how chang'd! what sudden Horrors rise? A naked Lover bound and bleeding lies!
Where, where was Eloïfa? her Voice, her Hand, Her Poniard had oppos'd the dire Command. Barbarian stay! that bloody Stroke restrain; The Crime was common, common be the Pain. I can no more; by Shame, by Rage, fupprefs'd, Let Tears, and burning Blushes speak the rest.
Canft thou forget that fad, that solemn Day, When Victims at yon' Altar's Foot we lay? Canft thou forget what Tears that Moment fell, When, warm in Youth, I bade the World farewell?
As with cold Lips I kiss'd the facred Veil, The Shrines all trembled, and the Lamps grew
Heav'n scarce believ'd the Conqueft it furvey'd, And Saints with Wonder heard the Vows I made.
Yet then, to those dread Altars as I drew,
Not on the Crofs my Eyes were fix'd, but you:
Not Grace, or Zeal, Love only was my Call,
And if I lose thy Love, I lose my All.
Come with thy Looks, thy Words, relieve
my Woe;
Thofe ftill at least are left thee to beftow.
Still on that Breast enamour'd let me lie,
Still drink delicious Poifon from thy Eye,
Pant on thy Lip, and to thy Heart be prefs'd;
Give all thou canft-and let me dream the rest.
Ah no! instruct me other Joys to prize,
With other Beauties charm my partial Eyes,
G 2
Full in my View fet all the bright Abode,
And make my Soul quit Abelard for God.
Ah think at least thy Flock deserves thy Care, Plants of thy Hand, and Children of thy Pray'r. From the falfe World in early Youth they fled, By thee to Mountains, Wilds, and Defarts led. You* rais'd these hallow'd Walls; the Defart fmil'd,
And Paradife was open'd in the Wild.
No weeping Orphan faw his Father's Stores
Our Shrines irradiate, or emblaze the Floors;
No filver Saints, by dying Mifers given,
Here brib'd the Rage of ill-requited Heav'n :
But fuch plain Roofs as Piety could raise,
And only vocal with the Maker's Praise.
In these lone Walls (their Day's eternal bound)
These mofs-grown Domes with spiry Turrets
crown'd,
Where awful Arches make a Noon-day Night,
And the dim Windows fhed a folemn Light;
Thy Eyes refus'd a reconciling Ray,
And Gleams of Glory brighten'd all the Day.
But now no Face divine Contentment wears,
'Tis all blank Sadness, or continual Tears.
See how the Force of others Pray'rs I try,
(Oh pious Fraud of am'rous Charity !)
But why should I on others Pray'rs depend?
Come thou, my Father, Brother, Husband,
Friend!
*He founded the Monaftery.
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